Jackson Square (New Orleans)

Last updated

Jackson Square
Jackson Square, French Quarter.jpg
Jackson Square, with Jackson's statue at center, and Saint Louis Cathedral center-back.
New Orleans Section and West Bank 1998 Map.jpg
Red pog.svg
USA Louisiana location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationBounded by Decatur, St. Peter, St. Ann, and Chartres Sts.,
New Orleans, Louisiana
Coordinates 29°57′27″N90°03′47″W / 29.95750°N 90.06306°W / 29.95750; -90.06306
Area2.5 acres (1.0 ha)
Built1721
Part of Vieux Carre Historic District (ID66000377)
NRHP reference No. 66000375
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966 [1]
Designated NHLOctober 9, 1960 [2]
Designated NHLDCPDecember 21, 1965

Jackson Square, formerly the Place d'Armes (French) or Plaza de Armas (Spanish), is a historic park in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1960, for its central role in the city's history, and as the site where in 1803 Louisiana was made United States territory pursuant to the Louisiana Purchase. [2] [3] In 2012 the American Planning Association designated Jackson Square as one of the Great Public Spaces in the United States. [4]

Contents

Design and development

Jackson Square was designed after the famous 17th-century Place des Vosges in Paris, France, by the architect and landscape architect Louis H. Pilié.[ citation needed ] Jackson Square is roughly the size of a city block (GPS +29.9575 -90.0630).

Sculptor Clark Mills' equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson (a recasting of the Washington, D.C., statue), hero of the Battle of New Orleans and seventh U.S. president for whom the former military parade ground was named, was erected in 1856.[ citation needed ] Iron fences, walkways, benches, and Parisian-style landscaping remain intact from the original design by Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba, in 1851. She also built the Pontalba Buildings, which flank the old square.

The flagpole, symbolizing the 1803 ceremonial transfers from Spain to France and then from France to the United States, reflects Louisiana's rich colonial history. During the 1930s, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) repainted façades, renovated buildings, and improved landscaping in and around the park. [5] In 1971, the pedestrian zone in the vicinity of Jackson Square was created, when three surrounding streets were closed to vehicular traffic—Chartres, St. Peter, and St. Ann.

History

Place des Armes, 1815 Saint Louis Cathedral New Orelans 1815.jpg
Place des Armes, 1815
Chartres Street side of the square, 1842, before the cathedral's remodeling and before the Pontalba Buildings. Jules Lion View of Chartres Street 1842.jpg
Chartres Street side of the square, 1842, before the cathedral's remodeling and before the Pontalba Buildings.
Jackson Square, 1885 Jackson Square, New Orleans.jpg
Jackson Square, 1885

Early French colonial New Orleans was centered on what was then called the Place d'Armes (lit.'weapons’ square'). Under Spanish colonial administration in the second half of the 18th century, the name was Plaza de Armas, which also means a place d'armes . Following the Great New Orleans Fire of 1788, the Spanish officials rebuilt the St. Louis Church (elevated to cathedral in 1793) in 1789 and the town hall (known as the Cabildo) in 1795.

Following the 1815 Battle of New Orleans, during the first half of the 19th century, the former military plaza was renamed Jackson Square, for the battle's victorious General Jackson. In the center of the park stands an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson erected in 1856, one of four identical statues in the U.S. by the sculptor Clark Mills. The statue was dedicated in a grand ceremony on Saturday, February 9, 1856. The square also has four slightly older statues, neoclassical representations of personifications of the four seasons, one near each corner of the square.

The square originally overlooked the Mississippi River across Decatur Street, but the view was blocked in the 19th century by the construction of higher levees. The riverfront was long devoted to shipping docks. The 20th-century administration of Mayor Moon Landrieu installed a scenic boardwalk on top of the levee to reconnect the city to the river; it is known as the "Moon Walk" in his honor, and has since been expanded and paved. The space between Decatur Street and the "Moon Walk" is designated as "Washington Artillery Park".

On the north side of the square are three 18th-century historic buildings, which were the city's heart in the colonial era. The center of the three is St. Louis Cathedral. The cathedral was designated as a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI. To its left is the Cabildo, the old city hall, now a museum, where the final version of the Louisiana Purchase was signed. To the cathedral's right is the Presbytère, built to match the Cabildo. The Presbytère was initially planned for housing the city's Roman Catholic priests and other church officials. At the start of the 19th century, it was adapted as a courthouse, and in the 20th century it became a museum.

The Place d'Armes was the site for public execution of criminals and rebellious slaves during the 18th and early 19th centuries. After the 1811 German Coast Uprising, three slaves were hanged here. The heads of some of the executed rebels were put on the city's gates. [6] (The same thing happened in St. Charles Parish, and a third slave-trial tribunal was held in St. John the Baptist Parish.)

In the Reconstruction Era, Jackson Square served as an arsenal. During the insurrection following the disputed 1872 gubernatorial election, in March 1873, it was the site of the Battle of Jackson Square. A several-thousand-man militia under John McEnery, the Democratic claimant to the office of the Governor, defeated the New Orleans militia, seizing control of the state's buildings and armory for a few days. They retreated before the arrival of Federal forces, which temporarily re-established order.

Artists, musicians, and New Age

Portrait photograph of a local resident, taken in Jackson Square by Ben Shahn in 1935. Ben Shahn1.jpg
Portrait photograph of a local resident, taken in Jackson Square by Ben Shahn in 1935.

From the 1920s through the 1980s the square was famous as a gathering place of painters of widely varying talents, including proficient professionals, talented young art students, amateurs, and caricaturists.

The 1960s and 1970s saw the beginnings of the square as a place of business for New Age and pagan devotees telling fortunes and reading palms and tarot cards. They sit on St. Ann or St. Peter street, alongside of the park.[ citation needed ]

The section of Chartres St. which comprises the parvis of Saint Louis Cathedral, the Presbytère, and the Cabildo is shared by visitors and artists, musicians, and varied street performers, such as jugglers and magicians. The performers generally work for tips.

Points of interest and events

Mardi Gras revelers in Jackson Square, 1989 MGD89TrioJaxSqConehats.jpg
Mardi Gras revelers in Jackson Square, 1989

On the other two sides of the square are the Pontalba Buildings, matching red-brick, block-long, four‑story buildings built in the 1840s. The ground floors house shops and restaurants; the upper floors are apartments, the oldest continuously rented apartments in North America.

Diagonally across Decatur Street upriver from Jackson Square is the Jax Brewery building, the original home of a favorite local beer. After the company ceased to operate independently, the building was converted into several businesses, including restaurants and specialty shops. In recent years, some retail space has been converted into luxury condominiums.

Diagonally across Decatur Street downriver from the square is Café du Monde, open 24 hours a day. Part of the historic French Market, it is known for its café au lait, prepared with chicory, and for its beignets, served there continuously since the Civil War days.

Jackson Square has been the site of hundreds of live music events.

Every year, the square hosts the French Quarter Festival and Caroling in Jackson Square. [7] Occasionally, formal concerts are given in the park.

Representation in media

The square in 2012 Jackson Square New Orleans.jpg
The square in 2012

Jackson Square has been filmed in numerous television shows and movies. Among these are the films Angel Heart , The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , King Creole, and television series K-Ville, Treme , Memphis Beat and The Originals .

It is the setting of an early scene in the graphic novel Polly and the Pirates by Ted Naifeh. In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "Image in the Sand", Joseph Sisko (Brock Peters) reveals that he met his first wife Sarah (Deborah Lacey) in Jackson Square. Jackson Square is one of the most important locations that can be visited in the computer game Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers . The park is a crucial site, with much of the game's action focusing on it and a number of characters making their appearance there.

In the 2017 novel Poisoned Tears, by Honduran author J. H. Bográn, one of the victims of the novel's serial killer is found in Jackson Square.

On Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve '17 with Ryan Seacrest , Jackson Square rings in the new year for the first time during the broadcast with the Fleur-de-lis drop at midnight Central Time (1:00 a.m. ET in New York's Times Square).

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">French Quarter</span> New Orleans neighborhood in Louisiana, United States

The French Quarter, also known as the Vieux Carré, is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the Vieux Carré, a central square. The district is more commonly called the French Quarter today, or simply "The Quarter", related to changes in the city with American immigration after the 1803 Louisiana Purchase. Most of the extant historic buildings were constructed either in the late 18th century, during the city's period of Spanish rule, or were built during the first half of the 19th century, after U.S. purchase and statehood.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Louis Cathedral (New Orleans)</span> Basilica in New Orleans, Louisiana

The Cathedral-Basilica of Saint Louis, King of France, also called St. Louis Cathedral, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans and is the oldest cathedral in continuous use in the United States alongside the Royal Presidio Chapel in Monterey, California. It is dedicated to Saint Louis, also known as King Louis IX of France. The first church on the site was built in 1718; the third, under the Spanish rule, built in 1789, was raised to cathedral rank in 1793. The second St. Louis Cathedral was burned during the great fire of 1788 and was expanded and largely rebuilt and completed in the 1850s, with little of the 1789 structure remaining.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ Church Cathedral (New Orleans)</span> Church in New Orleans, United States

Christ Church Cathedral, located today at 2919 St. Charles Avenue, in New Orleans, Louisiana, in the United States, was the first non-Roman Catholic church founded in the entire Louisiana Purchase territory. It was founded in 1803 as Christ's Church by the Protestant inhabitants of New Orleans, and is today the official seat of the Bishop of Louisiana, in the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andres Almonaster y Rojas</span>

DonAndrés Almonaster y Roxas de Estrada was a Spanish civil servant and philanthropist of New Orleans, today chiefly remembered for his numerous charitable benefactions made to the city of New Orleans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Cabildo</span> Building in New Orleans, Louisiana

The Cabildo, originally called "Casa Capitular", is a historical building in New Orleans, Louisiana. Originally the seat of Spanish colonial city hall, the building now forms part of the Louisiana State Museum. It is located along Jackson Square, adjacent to St. Louis Cathedral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Louisiana State Museum</span>

The Louisiana State Museum (LSM), founded in New Orleans in 1906, is a statewide system of National Historic Landmarks and modern structures across Louisiana, housing thousands of artifacts and works of art reflecting Louisiana's legacy of historic events and cultural diversity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Gallier</span> Irish-American architect

James Gallier was a prominent nineteenth-century Irish-born American architect, most famed for his buildings in New Orleans. Gallier Hall, which he designed and once served as New Orleans City Hall, is named after him.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great New Orleans Fire (1788)</span> 1788 fire in Spanish-controlled New Orleans

The Great New Orleans Fire (1788) was a fire that destroyed 856 of the 1,100 structures in New Orleans, Louisiana, on March 21, 1788, spanning the south central Vieux Carré from Burgundy to Chartres Street, almost to the Mississippi River front buildings. An additional 212 buildings were destroyed in a later citywide fire, on December 8, 1794.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great New Orleans Fire (1794)</span>

The Great New Orleans Fire (1794) was a major fire that destroyed 212 structures in New Orleans, Louisiana on December 8, 1794, in the area now known as the French Quarter from Burgundy to Chartres Street, adjacent to the Mississippi River. On March 12, 1788, just 6 years prior, 856 buildings had been destroyed in the First Great New Orleans Fire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Presbytere</span> United States historic place

The Presbytère is an architecturally important building in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. It stands facing Jackson Square, adjacent to the St. Louis Cathedral. Built in 1813 as a matching structure for the Cabildo, which flanks the cathedral on the other side, it is one of the nation's best examples of formal colonial Spanish architecture. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1970, and is now a property of the Louisiana State Museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buildings and architecture of New Orleans</span>

The buildings and architecture of New Orleans reflect its history and multicultural heritage, from Creole cottages to historic mansions on St. Charles Avenue, from the balconies of the French Quarter to an Egyptian Revival U.S. Customs building and a rare example of a Moorish revival church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pontalba Buildings</span> United States historic place

The Pontalba Buildings form two sides of Jackson Square in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. They are matching red-brick, one-block-long, four‑story buildings built between 1849–1851 by the Baroness Micaela Almonester Pontalba. The ground floors house shops and restaurants; and the upper floors are apartments which, reputedly, are the oldest continuously-rented such apartments in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Micaela Almonester, Baroness de Pontalba</span>

Micaela Leonarda Antonia de Almonester Rojas y de la Ronde, Baroness de Pontalba was a wealthy New Orleans-born Creole aristocrat, businesswoman, and real estate designer and developer, who endures as one of the most recalled and dynamic personalities in the city's history, though she lived most of her life in Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1850 House</span>

The Louisiana State Museum's 1850 House is an antebellum row house furnished to represent life in mid-nineteenth-century New Orleans. It is located at 523 St. Ann Street on Jackson Square in the French Quarter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States Custom House (New Orleans)</span> United States historic place

The U.S. Custom House, also known as the Old Post Office and Custom House, is a historic government building at 423 Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was designated a National Historic Landmark, receiving this designation in 1974 and noted for its Egyptian Revival columns. Construction on the building, designed to house multiple federal offices and store goods, began in 1848 and didn't finish until 1881 due to redesigns and the American Civil War. The U.S. Customs offices have been located there since the late 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Woodward (artist)</span> American painter

William Woodward was a U.S. artist and educator, best known for his impressionist paintings of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williams Hall (Miami University)</span> Brick in OH, USA

Williams Hall is located on the campus of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. It is the home of Miami University's Department of Journalism and Department of Communications.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson (Washington, D.C.)</span> Equestrian statue by Clark Mills in Washington, D.C., U.S.

Andrew Jackson is a bronze equestrian statue by Clark Mills mounted on a white marble base in the center of Lafayette Square within President's Park in Washington, D.C., just to the north of the White House. Jackson is depicted dressed in military uniform, raising his hat with his right hand, while controlling the reins with his left hand as his horse rises on its rear legs. 

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Arsenal (New Orleans)</span>

The Old Louisiana State Armory, commonly referred to as the Arsenal, faces St. Peter Street in the French Quarter only a few yards from historic Jackson Square in New Orleans, Louisiana. Since 1914 it has served as a Louisiana State Museum site; it is open to the public via the adjacent Cabildo museum.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 "Jackson Square". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on October 4, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2008.
  3. "NHL nomination for Jackson Square". National Park Service. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
  4. "Characteristics and Guidelines of Great Public Spaces". www.planning.org. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
  5. "2012 Great Public Spaces". www.planning.org.
  6. See http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/lapur&CISOPTR=712&REC=16 Archived February 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/lapur&CISOPTR=6008&REC=15 Archived February 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine , and http://louisdl.louislibraries.org/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/lapur&CISOPTR=720&REC=4 Archived June 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  7. "Jackson Square in the French Quarter - Experience New Orleans!".